The dated resort

Part 9

We went from laughing to nervously saying is this where we will be staying?

We left the few lights in town for nothing but darkness.  What made the motel even more eerie was the steep incline to get to it.  Once you get to the top you just about enter the parking lot and there it was – dark and gloomy.

The best way to describe Park Mammoth Resort is a celicant, a real throw back and I mean a real throw back to years ago.  It’s only 2 stories but spread out in a ranch fashion, dark brown siding with few bulbs lighting it.

The overhang where you park under to enter the lobby was also poorly lit.  Once you entered it didn’t get much brighter.  The lobby, sign in desk and the dining area was as dark as the outside.  It looks way older than the year it was built – 1964.  I learned the reason is they built it to look rustic and old - so you add the old look they wanted plus 50 years and the place looks really OLD.  Very little has been updated.  At one time this was THEE resort to stay at.  The golf course, caves on the property, shooting range, swimming pool, a little train circling the hotel and if I heard correctly it sits on 2,000 acres made this the place to be.  I believe the winery and wine tasting room have been recently added; they are in the slow process of updating so you best visit soon if you are into time-warps.

The women at the front desk were quite friendly.  They handed us our room keys and explained that if we get hot they can give us a fan.  The place has air-conditioning but it is only turned on during certain months.  And yes I wrote a room key.  No cards in this place. I loved it.  

I walked the place before retiring for the night.  The halls were sparse and by the entrances old yellowed framed photos hung on the wall.

 

 The one that startled me was the one with the hand.  It seemed as if one time their honored guest Thing from the Adams Family stayed, or maybe it was their place.   

 One balcony I walked out on was a small table and on top were candles.  Yikes!  What ritual went on here?

The rooms are also seriously dated.  If you like frills with new mattresses don’t stay here.  I personally loved the decor and dated look, the feel of the place, the GoGo Bus looked at ease here.

What about that time warp smell?  Well yes it had that too.  In our house we call that smell moof, spelling it as it sounds.  It’s an Italian word translated from broken English.  You know that damp smell found in an old musty basement or cellar filled with old things well that’s the smell.  In today’s sanitized world of man-made products even smells have changed and this resort’s smell reminded me of yesterday, my grandma’s house.  After awhile that smell actually became like an old friend returning and brought back memories.  I started to miss it when I left.  

Gotta GoGo!!

Carey